Gas, oil, and sand separator



Nov. 15, 1927. 1,649,570

T. lH. CHANDLER ET AL GAS, OIL, AND SAND SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 29, 1924 CII Patented Nov. 15,' 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,649,510` PATENT oFFIcE.n

rrHoMAs n. CHANDLER, or LONG BEACH, ANL WILLIAM H. s'rreALL, oF TAFT,

\ CALIFORNIA.

GAS, OIL;l AND SAND SEPARATOR.

Application led September 29, 1924. Serial No. 740,617.

'This invention is an apparatus for separating gas, sand and water from oil as it comes from a producing oil well.

The objects ot the invention are to provide in such an apparatus a simple and effective float valve without levers, fulcrums or other complicated working parts for automatically controlling the separate discharge of gas and' oil to provide means whereby the water and sand will be automatically separated from the gas and oil and discharged through a separate outlet so that the action of the valve is not affected by any abrasiveaction of the sand; to provide an oil seal whereby a vacuum may be applied to the gas or oil discharge lines without a'ecting the separating process, and to carry out the entire separating process in a closed vessel to prevent waste by evaporation. These objects and other objects which will incidentally hereinafter appear are attained in such an apparatus `as is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointe out in the appended claim. r y

The drawingis a vertical section of an apparatus showing one embodiment of our invention.

lin the drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates the pipe line leading from lthe well and discharging into a closed vessel 2 which is preferably cylindrical and is vprovided with a tapered bottom 3 from the lower end or inverted apenv of'which an outlet pipe 4 for the sand and water extends. This outlet pipe 4 is preferablyequipped with a conl trolling valve 5 which ymay be of any approved construction and it is coupled to the r tapered bottom 3 so as to provide a leakproof joint. The cylindrical wall of the vessel is extended downwardly beyond the tapered bottom, as shown at 6, whereby to pro# vide ay support for the vessel, but it will be understood, of course,` that 'this particular manner of 4supporting the vessel inanupright position is merely a matter of chchce and any approved support may be employed.

A' The sand and Water cominginto the vessel with the gals and oil will pass by gravity to and accumulate in the bottom Sand maybe drawn off at 'suitable intervals by openlng lthe valve 5 in an obvious manner.` 'The gas Guled in the upper portion of the vesselso and at itsV lower end with an oildischarge; pipe 10, the upper end of the tube8 and the lower end of the gas discharge pipe` 9 being secured in the head of the vessel vby flanges 11 in an obvious mann-er, while the lower end of the tuheS is coupled to the oil discharge pipe 10 by a T-coupling 12. This arrangement provides for a plurality of oil outlets and thereby facilitates the leading of the oil in any direction to a storage tank. As shown in the drawing, one pipe 10 is Vconnected to an outlet pipe 13 through flanges 14 while another pipe 10 has its outer end closed by a The tube or pipe 12 is provided with a partition 17 approximately at its center which' divides its interior into separate upper and 4 lower portions and in both its upper and its lower end portions the pipe or tube is provided with elongated ports 18 for the respective discharge .of the gas and oil Jfrom the vessel. by the baiiie sleeve 7 A sleeve valve 19 surrounds the tube or pipe 8 with a close sliding fit, and a .ioat 20 is secured upon said sleeve valve and floats upon the oilin the vessel, following the level of said oil and, consequently, moving the sleeve val-ve up or down. If an excess of oil comes into the vessel, the ioat rises and the upper end of the sleeve valve restricts or closes the upper vor gas discharge ports 18 until the increasing volurne and pressure of gas within the vessel forces the excess oil out through the lower or oil discharge ports 18, thereby lowering the oil level in\the vessel and permitting the float to descend. On the other hand, it' an eX- cess of gas .in proportion to oil comes into the vessel, the oil level drfops,4causing the float to descend until its loweri'end restricts o1 The uppermost ports 8 are conned closes the oil discharge ports 18, thereby permitting the oil level to again` build up.

.It will thus be seen that no'matter what maybe the proportions ofoil and gas fed into the separator, provided, of course, that the total volume is within the capacity of the various/ports an pipes, the separation is complete fand positive, and there is'no pos- 75 plug 15 coupled thereto through flanges 16.

sibility of gas landing its Way into the oil discharge line or vice versa. The operation of the apparatus is independent of the pressure of the incoming fluids, and, because there is always a quantity of oil trapped in the lower portion of the vessel to act as a seal, a vacuum may be applied in the discharge lines Without any adverse effect. The sand and water obviously drop to the bottom of the vessel and will accumulate therein until such time as it may be deemed desirable to draw off the same, and the sleeve valve is disposed out of the path of the sand which is deflected by the halide sleeve 7 so that it descends close to the wall of the vessel and, therefore, will have no substan receiving the mixture of gas, Oil, sand and Water as it comes from a well, a tapered bottom in the vessel for settling out the sand and Water, an Aoutlet pipe leading from said bottom, a vertically extending pipe within the vessel having ports in its upper and lower ortion, and a partition dividing its interior between said ports, a gas discharge connected with the upper end of said pipe. a horizontally disposed oil discharge pipe connected with the lower end of said pipe and located above the tapered bottom of the vessel and having its ends supported by the Wall of said vessel, a. cylindrical float slidably mounted on said first mentioned pipe and having an axial sleeve constituting a valve for reciprocally controlling the ports of said pipe, and a baille sleeve secured in the upper end portion of the vessel over the inlet and confining the upper ports.

In testimony whereof we aix our signatures.

THOMAS H. CHANDLER. 

